Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2009
| Subscribe to Newser's RSS feeds RSS | Follow Newser on Twitter Twitter


0

Paul Allen to Bid in FCC Wireless Airwaves Auction

Airwave auction draws applications from a diverse group from Google to Chevron to AT&T

Share

(Newser) – Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen is joining the competition for wireless airwaves being auctioned by the FCC next month. Allen’s firm, Vulcan Spectrum, applied, as have Google, Verizon, AT&T and others, to bid for the 700-megahertz spectrum that goes on the block Jan. 24, reports Reuters. Allen's investment company, Vulcan Capital, also holds a majority stake in Charter Communications, a cable operator.

Broadcasters are releasing the spectrum as they move to digital signals. Operators covet the spectrum because signals can penetrate walls and travel long distances, opening up opportunities for mobile web applications and operators. The FCC has accepted 96 applications to bid and lists 170 as incomplete. The auction will last weeks.

Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen arrives at the annual Allen and Co.'s media conference in this July 13, 2007 file photo, in Sun Valley, Idaho. Allen will sell a large portion of his stake in DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. and resign from the board, the company said Monday, Aug. 7,...
Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen arrives at the annual Allen and Co.'s media conference in this July 13, 2007 file photo, in Sun Valley, Idaho. Allen will sell a large portion of his stake in DreamWorks...   (Associated Press)
Vulcan chairman and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen arrives at the annual Allen and Co.'s media conference Friday, July 13, 2007, in Sun Valley, Idaho. (AP Photo/Douglas C. Pizac)
Vulcan chairman and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen arrives at the annual Allen and Co.'s media conference Friday, July 13, 2007, in Sun Valley, Idaho. (AP Photo/Douglas C. Pizac)   (Associated Press)
Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft, looks towards the Ansari X Prize trophy during a ceremony in St. Louis awarding the $10 million prize to Scaled Composites, LLC, creators of SpaceShipOne, November 6, 2004 in St. Louis, Missouri. In order to win the prize, SpaceShipOne successfully completed two manned flights into...
Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft, looks towards the Ansari X Prize trophy during a ceremony in St. Louis awarding the $10 million prize to Scaled Composites, LLC, creators of SpaceShipOne, November...   (Getty Images)
Microsoft co-founder Paul G. Allen waits to speak about the completion of the Allen Brain Atlas during a news conference on Capitol Hill September 26, 2006 in Washington, DC. The Allen Brain Atlas has potential to understand Neurological diseases and disorders and furthering neuroscience research.
Microsoft co-founder Paul G. Allen waits to speak about the completion of the Allen Brain Atlas during a news conference on Capitol Hill September 26, 2006 in Washington, DC. The Allen Brain Atlas has...   ( (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images))
« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow
OFF THE GRID
11.23.09
Books Are Bad for You
11.20.09
The Health-Care Wars Have Just Begun
0 comments
VIEWING:
 
LEAVE A
COMMENT Comment Policy
Facebook ConnectPost this comment to Facebook?

After connecting you will have the option to post your comment on your Facebook profile.

 

Related Newser Stories

1 Story

TV Newbie Verizon to FCC: Help Cable Users Switch

Move highlights telecom turf war

Mar 27, 08 1:26 PM CDT
(Newser) - As Verizon rolls out its subscription-TV service, the company has asked the FCC to make the switch from cable easier for consumers, the Washington Post reports. In its petition, Verizon asked for the authority to shut off its customers’ cable services on their behalf, arguing that the switchover process is... More »

MORE ABOUT:
television • FCC • Verizon • telecommunications • wireless service • cable operators • cable industry • FiOS

1 Story


Newcomers to wireless auction
PC World

Foreign investors look at spectrum auction
BroadcastEngineering


Business  •  Technology 
TwitterFollow @NewserBusiness on Twitter

 
FCC • municipal wireless • wireless service • 3G wireless networks • Paul Allen

from our news partners